Celebrating the 35th Anniversary of FVPSA

On the 35th anniversary of the passage of the Family Violence Prevention Services Act (FVPSA), the Northwest Network of Bi, Trans, Lesbian and Gay Survivors of Abuse (NW Network) and National LGBTQ Institute on Intimate Partner Violence (LGBTQ Institute) reflect on the impact of this landmark federal legislation on our work and on the lives of LGBTQ survivors. Passed in 1984, FVPSA has been a cornerstone in federal funding for domestic violence services, supporting both survivors’ access to needed resources and the field’s ability to provide those resources.

We have felt this support directly. Through FVPSA, the LGBTQ Institute, a program of the NW Network in partnership with the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, is designated as a national training and technical assistance provider working at the intersection of domestic violence in LGBTQ communities. Throughout the NW Network’s 32-year history, we have provided training and technical assistance to support providers and agencies across the country to competently and responsively serve LGBTQ survivors. FVPSA has allowed us to greatly expand the scope and reach of our work as well as provide the space to explore the ever-changing realities facing survivors across all genders and sexual orientations.

We hear time and again from providers who want to build their individual and organizational capacity to reach and competently serve LGBTQ survivors. By being a national domestic violence resource center through FVPSA, we can now provide guidance to significantly more providers through our ongoing webinar series, long-term remote learning cohorts for both mainstream and LGBTQ-specific providers, and guidance documents like our targeted recommendations and data collection guide. We know that ending violence in the lives of LGBTQ people will require a multi-dimensional movement. Our ability to expand our training and technical assistance helps us build the number of stakeholders knowledgeable about and dedicated to working towards liberation for LGBTQ communities.

With FVPSA’s support, we have been able to expand the field’s understanding of a broad range of experiences of LGBTQ survivors, including their experiences with mandatory reporting and other interactions with supports and systems when seeking help for domestic violence. Additionally, FVPSA has been integral to supporting collaboration and cross-sectoral partnerships between the LGBTQ Institute and other leaders in the domestic violence field. The LGBTQ Institute understands that in order to truly end violence against and within LGBTQ communities, we have to center those most impacted. To that end, FVPSA has facilitated our collaboration with queer and trans leaders who are primarily Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC), as well as focus on partnerships linking movements such as disability justice with the anti-violence movement. These collaborations increase the field’s understanding of and ability to support survivors across identities.

At this present moment when the rates of violence against LGBTQ people generally—and the rates of DV homicides of Black trans women in particular—are disturbingly high, we remain committed to pushing for the systemic, organizational and personal transformations needed to ensure that all LGBTQ people can live with safety, dignity and self-determination. We are grateful for the continued commitment and support of FVPSA, and for the community of anti-violence and anti-domestic violence leaders that we get to struggle alongside, day after day. Together, we can ensure that all survivors can access quality support as we continue visioning and creating the conditions for a future free of violence.